Nowadays, shoes are provided with a plethora of different properties and are often manufactured from different shoe parts. Depending on the specific kind of shoe and the parts used for the manufacture, these properties may be pronounced to different degrees.
Shoe soles, for example, primarily comprise a protective function. Furthermore, the outsole usually protects the midsole of a shoe by an increased abrasion resistance from excessive wear. A shoe sole may also have a cushioning effect, for example to cushion or absorb the forces occurring during contact between the shoe and the ground. Furthermore, a shoe sole can protect the foot from dirt or spray water.
A further function of a shoe sole may be to increase the traction or grip of a shoe on the respective ground in order to facilitate faster movements and to minimize the risk of the wearer falling.
In particular for ball sports, like e.g. soccer, American football, baseball or basketball, but also for running sports, there is often a change between movements in different intensity and strain ranges during the course of the game or run. On the one side, movements are implied with a lower intensity, e.g. running, trotting or jogging slowly, etc., for which the athlete does not have to expend overly large forces. However, such movements are typically performed over a longer period of time. On the other hand, however, phases of high movement intensity are also often part of a game, e.g. a soccer game, an American football game, a baseball game or a basketball game, or part of a run, like e.g. a cross-country run or a mountain run, for example during a sprint, while jumping, during sudden changes of direction, during mountain running, and so forth. Typically, the different intensity ranges also imply characteristic movement patterns, which may sometimes differ from each other significantly.
Given this background, the shoes known from the prior art are typically intended for a single field of application and are adapted to the respective characteristic movement pattern.
Therefore, it may be desirable to provide a supporting element, a sole and a shoe, which can dynamically adapt to the changing requirements that result from the change between movements in different intensity ranges.